Principi: Eligibility explosion behind VA claims backlog

10:28 AM,
Jul. 5, 2013

Tom Philpott

Written by

Tom Philpott

Those criticizing the Department of Veteran Affairs for its enormous backlog of disability claims are ignoring how recent laws and politics have turned VA into something Lincoln never envisioned: A fount of billions of dollars in payments for ailments likely caused by aging rather than military service, says former VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi.

Principi's push to restore "integrity" to the VA claims system began with a keynote address June 20 at a Washington D. C. forum on the VA. His speech, however, landed with a thud, ignored by other forum participants and even by its co-hosts, a ...